The champion caretaker!
by Varei
Summary: The professor receives a shocking call from his protege of legendaries coming from the past, and does his best to help with the fallout.
1. Chapter 1

The Legendary babysitter!

 _ **Bzzt.**_

Moonlight shone through the ceiling-to-floor windows of a Kalos laboratory, giving a dim luminescence to the white tiles,steel shelves and wooden tables. A man with porcelain skin and black hair sat at a wooden desk in the corner of the room, typing away at some work that needed tidying up.

A phone rang on the professor's desk,shaking around various kick-knacks and echoing into the moonlit lab. He turned his focus away from a computer screen to glance at the phone.

The name at the top of the screen flashed 'Preyja'.

A surge of mixed emotions ran through him as he considered how long it had been. He hadn't heard a peep from the girl since she left for Unova to help with the crime syndicate causing trouble there. He considered just ignoring the phone and continuing to focus on his work.

Instead, he picked up the phone, and with a few swipes of his finger, accessed the messaging app.

P: Hey, professor. Long time no see. I know it's late, but uh...you got a minute?

 _Sent at 10:02 pm_

He deliberated on his response for a moment, erasing several responses before eventually settling a friendly one.

Self: If it isn't the champion herself! Finally decided to stop being a stranger,huh? It's good to hear from you, little lady. What've you been up to?

 _Sent at 10:07 pm_

P: Well, simply put, I need some help. Can I trust you?

 _Sent at 10:07 pm_

The professor set down his phone, tapping his fingers on the table as he pondered on what he should do. He knew it would be like this; it was always trouble with this girl. She'd go silent for months at a time, then get into contact with innocent questions like,"How long can a Dragonite use fire blast before it burns it's mouth," only to follow up with something along the lines of, "And if I were to be,say, Faced with a 36 inch iron door, how long would fire blast have to be held to burn through it?"

The girl had a knack for finding opportunities-a knack which compounded all too well with her daredevil bravado, meaning she often came across success and danger in equal measure. She was a champion- _The_ champion, some might say- and swung the title around like a heavyweight;she often used it as an excuse to go around hunting down evil corporations like Team Galactic or team Magma _,_ constantly throwing herself into danger like it was the natural thing to do.

 _Last time I helped her, I had gotten drawn in for questioning after her involvement with the team flare and their ultra-weapon. The time before that, my lab was nearly destroyed after her admittedly resourceful teleportation sent her and that unstable core directly to me...In my lab. We managed to get everyone out without injury, but..._

 **Bzzt.**

He brushed away his thoughts from earlier, flipping the phone over checking the new messages.

P: Oh, and it's good to speak with you as well. We should catch up sometime, after...well.

 _Sent at 10:09 PM_

The professor pondered for a moment, then steeled himself for the worst as he typed his answer.

Self:Yes, we should. What is it you needed help with? I'll do what I can.

 _Sent at 10:10 PM_

P: I see. It's kinda hard to explain, so I'll just, uh, send you a clip.

 _Sent at 10:11 PM_

P: Oh,and you can't tell anyone, promise?

 _Sent at 10:12 PM_

 _Seriously, what could have happened that she was so worried about? If it was any other girl her age, I'd think they were just exaggerating. But Preyja was...well, if she was this worried,she may have really gotten herself in too deep in something she shouldn't have…_

Self:I promise you that ill act in your best interest.

 _Sent at 10:12PM_

P:Seriously, old man?

 _Sent at 10:13PM_

 _Well, it's not like plan to report her or anything. But if she was getting into trouble, I'd definitely tell the proper authorities and have them deal with it. Though,I'm sure she knew that, so if she was coming to me, maybe I should be prepared for that...?_

P:Well, that's fine. You know how it's,uh, 'frowned upon' by the state to capture Legendary Pokemon?

 _Sent at 10:15 PM_

 _...Oh god, what did she do?_

P: Well, uh, don't flip when you see this, but…

A few seconds later, she sent me a small video clip. It seemed to be recorded on her phone, and started with a close up on her face. "Uh, right, so, Professor, I'm, uh, really at a loss as to what to do here…"

Preyja looked awfully troubled. She was slightly older than the professor remembered- around sixteen or so- and her dark, youthful features were ridden with worry. her brows were furrowed, and she seemed to have an issue focusing on the camera, her hazel-brown eyes constantly flitting between the camera and something happening behind her. Small, reverberant thudding noises were coming from the room behind her. A green flash dashed in the small gaps of the scene behind her, followed almost immediately after by a loud crash. She flinched away from the noise, and I could see more of the room-including what had been making the noise. What I saw nearly made me jump out of my seat.

After the crash, a green- no, a emerald colored serpent fell into frame, after presumably knocking itself silly from ramming directly into the wall, the contents of the shelf above it strewn across the wooden floor. At a glance, the Pokemon was almost long as Preyja was tall- a little over five feet long,with coloration not unlike that of a flygon;It had dull yellow patterns playing along its hide, and a red pattern that outlined it's lips and singular fin. Unlike most serpentine Pokemon, the head was huge-easily a foot long on its own, taking up a large portion of its body. It's hide was separated by small gaps near the head and tail. After a brief moment,the monster sprang back into action,and resumed it's rapid motions around the room.

"Yeah, so - SORA!"

Her voice rang out in the small room, and she took the phone as she went towards the pokemon behind her. It was hard to tell what exactly happened, with the camera shaking wildly as she tried to get a hold of the pokemon- but when the cam settled the green snake had stopped moving in mid air, looking down, and made a noise- something like a cross between a loud roar and a soft gurgle-and flew towards her, It's tiny hands wrapped around her neck like it was giving her a hug as it coiled itself around her body. She rested her head against the pokemon's,gently gliding her hands along it's hide. it looked like just like some lovey dovey picture of a trainer and their Pokemon you could find anywhere.

The professor stopped the video. He was visibly shaking, and it took everything in him to keep his phone from dropping. He swiveled his chair towards his computer, briskly pulling up the files on the Pokemon that his mind couldn't believe the one in the video resembled. The data he had on it here was low; Low resolution pics and short, low definition videos with little but glimpses of the pokemon were all he had to go on. Even so, there was no mistaking it- It's horns hadn't fully grown in, and it's patterning was slightly off. There were fewer gaps in its hide, and it was way smaller than it would normally be...but it's appearance was too similar to be a coincidence.

 _It has to be a rayquaza..._

The singular ruler of the sky, that had been alive for at least Three thousand years, and Scientists had confirmed was the only one in existence. And here it was, a smaller, presumably baby like version of it, just...flying around without a care in the world.

"Ah, that's too tight sweetie,"she said, gently tugging at the rayquaza draped around her neck.

"Yeah, so our uh, I, after that last fiasco, know that certain people can tap into the speakers on a phone. For a quick explanation, I'll just say our, uh, 'forest guardian friend', heard it was my birthday,and thought it would be an _absolutely stellar_ idea to invite a few friends to the party," she said,swapping her gaze tiredly between the camera and the pokemon. the rayquaza let out a loud grumble in response. Or maybe it was a low grumble that seemed loud due to it being...well.

"Oh, hush." she gave it a peck on it's head, and it let out a loud, seemingly affectionate gurgle, and then opened its mouth- revealing razor sharp teeth that made the professor flinch just seeing, and a jaw so wide, it could have easily taken off her head in a single bite- and licked Preya's cheek with a reptilian tongue. she stroked the rayquaza gently in response, running her hand along it's head. eventually, it relaxed it's entire body,letting itself droop onto Preyja as it drifted off into sleep- much to the dismay of Preyja, who was struggling to support the pokemon on her shoulders as it put more and more of its weight on her.

"Hey hey, heavy heavy heavy- ack! you're heavy, you can't just...ugh." she touched a white Luxury poke-ball to it's head, and it went into the ball as if it was natural.

"Yeah, so uh, that' the stitch, doc. The pokemon, uh- Sora, Devi, and Shiva all ended up here with me. I can't go into detail over the phone, but chances are I'll be heading your way by the time you see this, so…"

She re-centered the camera to her face, and her tired face lit up into the biggest smile she could muster, contrasting sharply with the expression she wore until that point. It was a tired smile, but one that was brimming with life all the same.

"see you soon!"

And like that, the clip ended.

. _..What in the world is happening. She said the 'forest guardian'? That would be Celebi, right? Those pokemon have some strange control over time, but surely she didn't mean...did he pull those pokemon from when they were just being born? That was absurd. inconceivable. It was something that should have been impossible from what we knew._

 _Then again, so was a baby rayquaza._

The professor set the phone down, leaning back in his chair as he was tried to process what just happened. Trying to parse what meant it going forward.

What it meant for time- if the original rayquaza was still here, if it meant that there were many rayquazas at one point in the past- but there wasn't enough information. What it meant for the world, having such powerful pokemon possibly being able to reproduce once more, another apex of the apex predators roaming the earth.

What it meant for for the power balance of the nations, too. If it were a baby, and they managed to somehow gain control of it, that could be catastrophic as well. At best, we would have to keep it under wraps until it grew up- and at worst, we'd have to fight to keep it out of the hands of tyrants and other people in power...just the thought gave the professor a headache. That's not even considering the fact that they would have to prepare the lab to be in full lock-down, to make sure no one unnecessary caught a glimpse of the pokemon. not only that, we'd have to prepare for accommodating a legendary, which would involve both space and a veritable mountain of food.

As if that wasn't enough, she actually mentioned three names at the end of the video. If Sora was a rayquaza, what could Devi and Shiva possibly be code names for? The professor racked his brain, trying to think of the meanings of the names. Rayquaza was the ruler of the sky, so Sora must have meant 'sky' or 'flight', but that gave little perspective to the other two names. Just when he was about to text her for more clarification, he realized something else she had sad.

'See you soon!'

Last he heard, she was finishing business with the championships in Unova. She was smart enough to know she shouldn't fly by plane,in case of a random pokemon search...so how did she plan to get here?

 _I could probably get her a private flight,_ the professor mused to himself. _Hate to have to call in a favor, but I suppose it can't be helped…_

The professor snapped up his phone,preparing to make the call to his associates,until he noticed something odd. The video had a timestamp on the top of it. It said it had been recorded at 4:00 PM- recorded seven whole hours before the messages had been sent. Sensing something was wrong, the professor changed his plan and called Preyja. She picked up after only one ring.

"What's up, professor!"

A massive amount of wind could be heard on the other side of the phone, making her voice barely audible over the apparent storm raging on.

"Preyja, where are you right now? Is it storming? I can barely hear you, are you ok?"

"Yeah, professor, just fine!" she said, raising her voice over the winds. "Don't know that you could really call this a storm, but the winds are always high around this height!"

"...Preyja, where are you?"

"Ah, well, you see, that's a hard thing to answer. I'd say I'm like,I don't know, three fourths of the way to Kalos? No, more than that- I should reach the coastal side in the next thirty minutes, maybe?"

 _This girl, surely she isn't…_

"Preyja, Where- _Exactly -_ Are you?"

Preyja paused for a moment.

"Above the ocean, uh- 47.2 latitude,-25 Longitude. Moving due west. The navi puts me at 36 minutes out from the coast at my current speed. That good?"

The professor gripped his phone tightly, and his knuckles popped as his other hand dug into the armrest of his chair. He took a deep breath, and spoke evenly, asking each question in a stern tone.

"Who's bringing you? Which way did you come from? Did you launch off from somewhere, or- "

"I'm coming from Unova! I didn't want to take a plane, so I took my pokemon and-"

"Are you an idiot!? Did you even think that through? Coming across the ocean by pokemon is the height of stupidity, young lady!"

 _Coming from Kalos from Unova would require hours of uninterrupted flight. To do that all on one pokemon…it'd be difficult at the best of times. Most flying type pokemon would struggle to fly for that long while carrying a person with them. If they were to give out over the ocean…_

 _I suppose I'll have to meet them at the coastline. It's only twenty minutes away, so I should make it to meet them there…if I get there now, I may be able to help if something goes wrong._

The professor began to get up as they conversed, getting his jacket and shoes on for the travel ahead.

"I know professor, I know, but we couldn't just-"

A loud, guttural pokemon's hiss cut above the winds from the other side of the phone. Before the professor could ask what the noise was…

"Hey, Triochi, are you ok? Are you tired?" the pokemon she was speaking to responded with another hiss.

 _Triochi... that's her hydreigon, isn't it? It should be able to make the flight if it was rested…_

The professor thought with a hint of relief.

"Ok, just hang on. We'll swap it out. Zmeys!"

The noise of a pokeball releasing it's charge could be heard, followed by the roar of another dragon type pokemon.

 _Zmeys… her dragonite? Why did she pull out another pokemon, did she encounter a hostile one mid air?_

"Ok, just like we did before. Triochi, go up!"

The wind picked up as the pokemon changed it's altitude.

"Ok, now- h-hEY!"

"Wait, hold on, what are you doing Preyja!?" the professor said. Sweat was beading down his face, and he was nearly in a panic. The wind that had been picking up was now in full throttle, and it was impossible to tell exactly what was happening.

For all he knew, she could be falling this very instant.

"Preyja!?"

The professor stumbled out of the lab and rushed in his car as he called her through the phone, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, the wind from the phone died down, and the soft _thud_ noise came from the phone.

"N-nice Catch, Zmeys..." Preyja said, Heavily breathing. The sound of a pokeball collapsing a pokemon's form into itself could be heard.

"Preyja, are you ok?"

"Yeah, Professor, just fine. Triochi got tired, so I was planning to switch over to Zmeys, but Tri was more tired than I realized, so…well, anyway, we'll be shoreside in about 15 minutes, I think. Zmeys can fly super fast."

The professor had a lot of questions. Lots of emotions surging through him.

But more than anything, he was just glad she was safe.

"Yeah, I'll meet you shoreside. Do you know where exactly you'll be landing?"

"About a mile north of Cyllage city, professor. EH?! No, sora, don't- I'll talk to you soon, professor!"

And with a click, the phone call was over.

11:35 PM

"Well, little lady? Let's hear it."

Preyja and the professor had just made it back to the lab, and were discussing the ramifications of what she had done. The baby rayquaza, now released from it's ball, flew around the perimeter of the lab.

"I said I was sorry, didn't I? I get that it was reckless, but I couldn't get over here otherwise. I didn't know what he ate, or drank, or, well, anything that a baby rayquaza would need, so I figured..." she said, making a bridge with her two fingers.

After the professor had picked up the young champion, what followed was about a twenty minute car ride with a lecturing on the ramifications of her actions. Endangering herself, her pokemon, crossing the border without permission, that sort of thing. The girl had sat and nodded the entire ride, muttering "sorry, sorry…" as they rode along.

"And what would you have done if you had failed? What if your pokemon weren't able to make it? You'd be..." the professor had been holding back in the car, probably due to his frustration with the girl, but now he couldn't hold back his tears.

"Ah, there's no way that would have happened. Tridochi was from his initial chasing down of Sora earlier, but normally he could make the flight without any issue. Not only that, I had Zmeys AND Meta on me, as well. Even if they had to take turns-"

"That's not the point, Preyja. You know that."

"...Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. Truly."

The professor practically knocked Preyja over with his tackle hug. They lingered there for a while, until they noticed that Sora had wrapped himself around them in an attempt to get in on the hug. feeling his tough, yet oddly smooth hide around his body caused the professor to look up- which nearly caused the professor to jump out of his skin as he raised his head and met with the pokemon's ginormous eyes, much to the enjoyment of Sora.

"Ah, now that that's out of the way…" Preyja said, her voice slightly muffled in the professor's chest. "What are we gonna do with this guy?"

She gently pulled away from the professor, using Sora as a counterbalance as she twisted her way out of sora's gentle, but binding embrace and freeing herself of the impromptu group hug.

"Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty good at training pokemon. But if he's as young as he's acting, I'm not sure if it's the same thing? Raising him, I mean."

The professor shook his head, and laughed. Sora looked at the professor with a quizzical expression, before letting out a strange rumbling noise that might have been it's own attempt to laugh as well.

"Not at all, Preyja. Not at all. But don't worry, I'll teach you everything I possibly can..." Sora flew from around the professor, back to Preyja. It lightly coiled itself in the air around her, it's head resting on her shoulder. She smiled, gently stroking sora's head, and for the briefest moment, the professor saw the smallest part of himself in that smile."...About how to take care of someone."

When she was younger, the girl had lost her parents. The professor had kept her for a couple of years- but the moment she was able to, she set off on her journey to be a pokemon trainer. She wasn't really his child, but he helped her as much as he could all the same. She caused him trouble, and headache after headache, but she was a good girl at heart. He knew that. Seeing her, eyes full of life, ready to take on the challenge that was thrust upon her...he couldn't help but smile.


	2. Chapter 2

"yeah, it's me. I'm calling to reschedule the shoot we were doing next week…. yeah, something came up. Champ stuff, you know how that goes…yeah, same date next month is be fine. Thanks for understanding. i'll stay in touch. Ciao."

Preyja's tired voice filled the room as she tapped her foot impatiently while reciting her canned responses for the umteenth time to another booking. She hung up her Navi and sighed, flopping from an upright position to lying face up on the bed. Preyja stared at the blank ceiling, mentally rummaging through the list of events she had coming up.

 _Ok, Both Interviews are canceled, i pushed my commercial shoots back,i got someone to sub for my tech model demos, what else did i have to do this month…?_

Preyja rummaged through her Navi's calendar and notes, trying to piece together what events she had lined up over the next couple of weeks. She had only written small notes in her navi here and there, since she generally would have marked them on her calendar at home-a normally reliable practice that she currently regretted more and more as the morning dragged on.

She hadn't planned on having such...unique pokemon duped onto her, so all of her plans were effectively thrown into the shredder until she and professor Quill figured out what to do with their... new friends. She had to cancel shoots, make up excuses, reschedule appointments, make up more excuses, the whole nine yards - she had spent every waking moment since she got up doing so. The call she had just finished was the thirteenth call she made this morning, and she hadn't even had breakfast yet. She had started with the long way around approach- talking and chatting cordially with the person before letting them down gently- but by the time she got to her sixth call, she was about ready to drop kick the next person that so much as asked her "why?"

She turned her attention to the rest of the room, where sunlight was shining through slits in the blinders on the window next to the bed, casting a dim light on the wooden floors and lavender wallpaper of the familiar guest room. The room was neatly organized, but its features were spartan- besides the bed, the only other thing in the room was a dresser, with assorted hair accessories tidily arranged on its surface,a chair, from which hung a small women's leather jacket, a mirror, and a small Television stand, missing its core component- an actual TV.

Sora, Preyja's newfound baby rayquaza, had all six and a half feet of itself coiled lightly on the bed beside her, taking up half the bed even in its coiled state. it's viridian green hide glimmered slightly wherever the sun hit it, and a small snot bubble was growing and receding out of it's nose as it snored gently. Completely unfazed by Preyja's constant shifting, it continued its slumber peacefully. Next to the bed, a mini arceus lay resting as well, its white fur shining gently even in the dark, and its equinine legs tucked under it comfortably as it slept.

Shiva,the small giratina she had found at the same time as the others, was nowhere to be found. She figured he had probably wandered out to find the rest of her pokemon, who were sleeping in the poke shelters around the outside of the house.

 _Well, either that or he had opened up a portal to the reverse dimension… oh well, he'll come back eventually._

She turned back her attention to her phone. She gave the calender a once over, and then a twice over, but couldn't find anything else hinting at more appointments.

 _Guess i'll deal with the rest when they come up..._ she thought to herself. she brought her legs back to her chest and kick jumped her way out of the bed, deftly landing on the floor in front of her. She smacked her face to wake herself up, and quickly moved towards the door, stopping in front of the mirror briefly to fix her hair.

 _on to the next objective...food!_

She snapped up her leather jacket from the chair and slipped it on in one fluid motion. Sensing her movement-or possibly from the quaking of the bed on her sudden exit- Sora roused, glancing at Preyja with its reptilian, half sleepy eyes.

"Come on, Sora. let's go get something to eat. You too, Devi!"

Sora yawned, and then drifted his body towards Preyja in a lackadaisical fashion, wrapping itself around her neck and shoulders, before closing its eyes to rest again. It hovered ever so slightly to avoid putting all of the weight on her, but she still felt like someone had draped an onyx chain made of actual onyx boulders onto her neck.

The miniature arceus shifted its head slightly, opening its grey eyes and examining Preyja with an unmistakable intensity. Devi stood up while maintaining eye contact, stretched it's front and back legs, and then laid back down, closing its eyes as it set up to dooze off.

 _Wooooooow. Really?_ Seeing the pokemon make a deliberate effort at ignoring her did no favors for her mood.

"Girl, you better - know what, Ight, don't eat then. Let's go Sora."

Preyja opened the door, stepped out into the hallway, and took a deep breath.

 _The first step to a healthy relationship is a foundation of trust,_ she recalled someone saying to her. She poked her head around the corner of the doorframe to glance at Devi once more.

"Devi. i don't know why you're so grumpy this morning, but listen. We help each other, and that includes making sure each other is well fed and healthy, alright? If you're hungry, feel free to come and grab some food with us, we won't bite~"

Devi opened its eyes for a moment to glance at Preyja, it's grey eyes glistening with thoughts. Devi looked as though, if it could speak, it would have a lot to say. Of course, the Arceus couldn't- or, at least, this one couldn't, as far as anyone could tell. She held its gaze for a while, and eventually sighed.

 _That all you got, man? A stare? you're responding to the name i gave you, so you obviously trusts me on some level. why are you being so difficult? Well, whatever. I guess the best thing to do is to let decide it wants to come on it's own for now._

"Well, i'll leave the door open for ya. You know how to get downstairs right?"

The small horse-like pokemon made a grumbling noise, and nodded it's head, before facing its head the other direction.

"Cool. Let's go, Sora." she went to leave out of the door, and then turned around to say one more thing.

"Oh, and if Shiva comes back from that other place, tell him the foods ready downstairs too, ok?"

Preyja stepped from the room into the hallway, Sora floating gently on her neck. Sora slowly began to wake up as they walked down the hallway, eventually unwrapping from around Preyja's neck to float alongside her. it slithered and snaked in the air as they moved, casting a small breeze into the hallway as they made their way to the stairway. Perhaps it was the breeze created by Sora that masked the smell that was coming from downstairs, because the moment she reached the tile floor at the foot of the steps she was bombarded with the smell of breakfast- Bacon, Pancakes, eggs, sausages- it smelled like a feast was being cooked in their honor.

Sora rushed in front of Preyja, who tailed right behind it as they rounded the corner into the kitchen. It seemed as if the food had just been finished cooking, with the pots and pans already hanging to dry over the sink, and containers with assortments of breakfast foods were placed on the counter in a orderly fashion.

 _Ah, that neat freak…_

Sora hovered over the food,gazing down upon the minagre with a ferocious look as it's eyes darting back and forth between the meals. Its eyes were practically bulging out of its eyes, and it's mouth was visibly salivating, dripping into the food below only reason it hadn't completely torn through the food was probably due the sheer number of choices presented to it.

"Ah, Sora, don't hover over the containers, that's bad manners! You need to grab a plate first-"she was grabbing plates for the both of them as she said this, but before she could finish her sentence,a voice was heard from another room. Her voice, as a matter of fact, playing from the television in the living room.

"Well where in acreus's name were you at, huh!?" she heard herself shout on a television in the living room. Despite the sound quality, seemingly recorded from a phone or low quality camera, it was impossible to mistake what it was from for her. A wave of guilt washed over her, a feeling that only worsened as the clip played on.

"I was out there stopping Galactic and Plasma from causing half the world to fall into an eternal dark age! Me and my pokemon took on the BOTH of the gangs, and the legendaries they had enslaved, to keep you all safe. But I'M the one that didn't do enough. I'M the one that's to blame. Why don't you take your accusations, and your idiotic assumptions, and just -" the station cut to a reporter, stating their name and reminding the audience as to what had happened.

About how she hadn't been able to stop the entire attack on time. About how a portion of land was chunked off of unova's map after they attempted to use Zekrom and Palkia's powers at the to erase the world, one continent at a time.. About how...some people near the event horizon had turned up missing, even after she had convinced dialga to revert things back the way they were.

 _Ugh, i don't have time for this..._

she had already been beating herself up over not being able to stop them in time. She was their champion, after all. Everyone turned to her when things got tough. She was used to working alone, and did so time after time. But something about being blamed for what went wrong that time, after everything that had happened…

 _I should have known better. I've gotten those sorts of remarks time and time again. Baseless accusations practically comes with the territory after a point. But i snapped. And then the people's reactions..._

Preyja was mulling over the past as Sora hovered in front of her. Completely unaware of her inner thoughts,Sora was circling around her in the air, making a clicking sound with its tongue, seemingly trying to get her attention.

Preyja picked up two plates, and forced a smile on her face.

"Alright Sora,just point out what you want, and i'll get it for ya, ok? Sora…?"

Suddenly, Sora stopped. Its head tilted back as though it heard something, and It made a low gurgling sound with it's throat as it focused on what it was hearing. Its sinewy muscles quickly became apparent through its hide as it tensed up in the air. Preyja instantly recognized the sound Sora was making as the sound most dragon types make when they're about to rush something down, and instinctively turned to see what had provoked him.

"What? What's the matter?"

Before she could get a bead on what exactly it was fixated on,Sora bolted around the corner of the kitchen and into the living room. Preyja rushed around the corner just in time to see Sora rush straight through the living room, over the coffee table, right past professor Quill's head, and smash face first- with the rest of its body following after it- into the glass door of the patio. Luckily, the door was reinforced, and no damage was apparent to it, though the impact had been strong enough to visibly shake the entire wall.

 _Ah, he was just trying to get outside. Why do all dragon types do that…_

Preyja knew he was fine; both of the dragon types she had raised had made similar mistakes, acting before their minds could actually decide if the course of action they were taking was a _good_ course of action. Almost all dragon types were born _especially_ headstrong, and slamming into something was practically how some of them said hello early on in life. But seeing Sora slam into the wall with such force still left a pit in her stomach- it hurt her on a more...instinctual level.

"Hey, Sora, are you-" before she could even finish her sentence, the pokemon sprung up from the ground, and was back at full capacity. "...right, of course you are."

"Good morning, Sora. you too, Preyja." professor Quill said simply, entirely unfazed by the pokemon's rambunctious action. Sora gave professor Quill a wave with his tail, and pressed his face against the glass door, his eyes zeroed in on the two pokemon outside.

On the patio of professor Quill's house, Under the pergola, Preya's dragonite and Hydreigon Zemys and Triochi were standing and hovering, respectively, around a large wooden table. They were currently partaking in a large meal of assorted breakfast meats and poke-treats. while Preyja could not hear either of them, they were both focused on one another, and were seemingly deep in conversation.

Zemys was as energetic as always, his arms nearly a blur as he motioned his way through what he was saying. All of his motions were big, and with him being tall- even by dragonite standards- it would be easy to mistake his actions for aggression. Triochi, however, was entirely focused on her meal- or, to be more accurate, 66% focused on her meal. Her main head and left head-hand were both focused diving into the 2 plates in front of them, which sat in front of the six or so plates behind those. her left head-hand was pointed at Zemys, moving and nodding attentively as she listened Zemys's dialogue. Despite the extremeness in their actions, their mannerisms would seem almost human to an outside observer.

When Sora struck the glass door, they both stopped and glanced at it, both wearing a slightly confused expression. Triochi was the first to break from the confusion, letting loose a laugh so loud it could faintly be heard even beyond the door as she cackled. Zemys was barely phased, and had already returned to motioning towards Trochi even as he moved to open the door for Sora.

The door slid open, and Sora instantly darted to Zemys, doing his usual curl in the air around Zemys and licking him on the check. Zemys responded amicably, his facing practically jumping to a different extreme as he gave Sora a smile and a wave. The instant after, his face was contorted back into a determined snarl, and he returned his attention to the inside of the house.

without the protection of the door, Zemys's voice could be heard throughout the entire room as he stomped and yelled. He motioned towards at professor Quill, who was sitting on the couch sipping out of a coffee cup wearing a short sleeved polo and some khakis, a contemplative look apparent on his face. The large dragonite made let out a odd three part grunt that would sound odd to most- though it was his normal call when he was referring to professor Quill- and pointed back out the doorway towards Triochi, obviously looking for affirmation on whatever it was it was speaking about.

"Mmmmm-hm. that's right, Zemys." professor Quill said, obviously not really paying attention to what was actually being asked. professor Quill had his full attention on the television in front of him, and hadn't even glanced at the pokemon with his response.

In spite of professor Quill's lukewarm response, Zemys let loose a victorious roar, turning around and slamming his hand on the table as if to say, "boo-yeah! Told you so!". Triochi rolled her eyes- a very noticeable motion, as all three of her heads rolled in tune with her eyes- and redoubled her eating efforts. Zemys, with both the look and posture of satisfaction, went back to eating off the plate in front of him.

Sora slithered outside alongside Zemys, licking Triochi to greet her. Triochi looked up from its meal,gave Sora a quick lick back, and nudged one of its extra plates over to it, which Sora dug into with fervor. The three dragon types all convened and roared in conversational glee with one another.

"It seems your pokemon all have that same unbridled energy you do, Preyja." she scoffed.

"Oh please. if i had half the energy they did i could probably take on the whole world...heh. Good morning out there, you two!"

The pokemon outside both waved a hello at Preyja before continuing to dig in.

"And good morning to you too, professor. Thanks for feeding them, by the way- i actually left my wallet at home, so you basically saved my life again! ha ha ha..." Preyja said, laughing nervously as she tried to move the conversation in a direction that was different than what she new was coming.

"Mmmm. So, Preyja."

He jutted his chin to towards the TV.

"What happened there?"

 _yeahyeah, saw that one coming. It just had to be the one time he actually turned on his television, huh..._

Preyja took in a large breath, and sat down beside professor Quill on the couch.

"Ah...You hadn't heard?" she asked, probing to see just how much he knew.

"I don't normally keep up with the news. You know that. Until today i thought you had just been handing the championships there…"

He looked down for a moment. His face was conflicted, almost defeated, even.

"i mean, i was, but then- well, it's nothing, really..." Preyja said. She waited, and professor Quill sat calmly without saying a word, waiting for her to continue.

"It was like, three months ago, ya know? It'd actually be strange if this was the first time you heard about it. I'm surprised they're still airing talking about it, it really wasn't a big deal...heh." she said in a forced voice, even throwing in a forced laugh for good measure.

"You probably just forgot. Rather than that, what's the plan for Sora? I know you took some basic measurements, but didn't you wanna do more back at the lab? Take some samples, run some tests, and all that other science-y jazz your type likes to do?"

professor Quill shook his head, and for the first time since Preyja had seen him, turned his attention away from the TV to focus on her.

"The lab isn't going to be ready to receive Sora for at least a week, due to the sheer amount of privacy that will need to be involved. We can track his behavior, but other than the rudimentary measurements we did, the big stuff will have to wait until later. But besides that…"

He glanced at me, his greyish eyes betraying a hit of disappointment as he took up the remote and turned off the TV. "...that wasn't like you."

Preyja couldn't help but think, _Ah, he's not gonna let up, is he…_

"I just snapped, you know? Here i am, busting my butt across two continents without any help to save the world, and we lose like twelve people and half the nation instantly jumped down my throat. I couldn't save them. I couldn't. Even if i _could_ have magically divined some method to save them, The seven of us were neck deep in it as it was. Palkia's space twisting marklarky is bad enough, but those jaggards somehow managed to gain control of Zekrom too... _We_ barely made it out. When that guy came at me, accusing me of not wanting to save them, i just… I mean, i know they thought i was some starchild that could do anything, but like...sometimes, even diamonds crack under pressure, you feel me?"

There was a moment of stillness as professor Quill took in her response. He took a long swig out of his tea cup before setting it down on the table in front of him. He leaned back for a moment, mulling over what he should say. Despite the three pokemon chattering away outside, the room felt dreadfully quiet to Preyja as she waited for his response. She could practically already hear his questions in her head. The same ones she had heard time after time.

" _Why didn't you ask for help? Why didn't you handle it sooner? Why didn't you tell me?"_

The obvious condolences and platitudes she had gotten from everyone else.

" _It's not your fault. Keep your chin up. There's always next time."_

Just thinking about it made her blood begin to boil. Talk show after talk show, interview after interview, it had been the same thing each time.

 _You think i didn't already think of that? Already ask myself that? Already tell myself that...?_ She thought to herself. It never helps. She crossed her arms, and she could feel her body heating up as the thoughts swirled inside her mind.

" i empathize with you. It's hard to be the person who everyone turns to. Its impossible to have all the answers, that's why we make mistakes. I can't even imagine what it must be like to put on that type of front for entire nations... It must be exhausting. But you never quit- you never have, and i doubt you ever will. I'm sure what i'm saying is probably a little late, but...don't beat yourself up on this one. Besides, you aren't wrong...if more trainers had tried to stop them instead of standing idle, maybe those gangs wouldn't have gotten so strong to begin with. But-"

"That's exactly the issue. They _did_ take hear my words, and they _did_ take them to heart. Now, half the nation wants me to step down, while the other half hails me like i'm so type of idol...those vigilantists-"

Preyja paused in the middle of her sentence as a loud thumping sound resonated from the stairway. Devi slowly meandered around the corner, his white fur and long tuft of hair on his head shimmering as he walked. Preyja and professor Quill both lost their train of thought as they focused on The equine pokemon. it ambled up to Preyja, gently tugging at her jean shorts with its teeth, obviously trying to get her attention.

"Ah, but its not worth thinking about. We have bigger things to worry about, isn't that right, Devi?" Preyja ran her hand through his smooth tuft of a mane on his head, to which Devi responded with pulling even harder at her shorts and nearly dragging her off the couch, much to the mixed amusement and horror of professor Quill. Though she couldn't see him, his stifled laughter was unmistakable.

"H-hey, watch it!" she managed to free herself of Devi's clutches, her face turning darker with embarrassment as she tried to fix her shorts. Devi nudged at her legs, and held Preyja's gaze for a moment before pointing at the door with it's head. Preyja wasn't entire sure what Devi's problem was, but it was clearly adamant about...something.

"Well, he's obviously looking for some attention, isn't he?" professor Quill said with a chuckle.

"I suppose even a godling still needs time made for it once in a while...oh, where's that other one at, anyway?"

"Huh...Oh, Shiva?"

 _Oh yeah, that's right._

"I haven't seen him. He wasn't in my room when-"

Just then, some commotion could be heard outside. Sora flew in through the open door and instantly coiled around Preyja. It was obviously startled-She could feel the sinewy muscles in its body as it clung to her. Half tense, half shivering, it was like a fight or flight response engine revving up in real time. She followed its gaze, and saw that Zemys and Triochi had both turned their attentions away from the table, and were focused on man's voice that could be heard from beyond the patio.

"Dragonite, is Professor Sycamore in? We need his assistance badly!"

Triochi's growl-hiss could be heard- his "back up or get smacked up" hiss, to be precise. Preyja and professor Quill exchanged glances, and decided, unanimously, to see what the commotion was. Preyja ducked under Sora's draping in one fluid motion, leaving the snake hanging in mid air. It moved to come with her, but she held up her hand to stop it.

"Sora, stay with Devi ok? We'll be right back!" she said and rushed after professor Quill.

Preyja ran up to Trochi,running her hand along Her mane to try and calm her down. The man in front of them was in his early thirties, wearing a blue shirt that was drenched in sweat, and khaki shorts. His hair was a brown tangled mess, and his forehead glistened with so much sweat that one would think the man ran a marathon.

"Please, help! A giant dragon pokemon appeared, and its terrorizing Shalour city!"

It sounded bad, but all Preyja could think was, _Thank god, a distraction...i wonder, did you do this?_ She looked back at Devi in the living room, who was currently hiding the majority of his body behind the sofa. Only his head could be seen, and his grey eyes stared back at her, sparkling. Eventually, he nodded his head towards the man as if to say, _focus._

"I see, i don't mind helping," Preyja said, turning her attention back to the man as she stepped forward.

"What type of pokemon is it?"

"Who are- Woah, aren't you Unova's champion!?" the man responded in awe. With his forehead shining, and his body drenched in sweat, Preyja couldn't help but step back instinctively when He went to approach her. his hand extended to shake, but was quickly repelled by Zemys's warning growl. He stepped back instinctively, and tossed both his hands up in a quasi panic.

"I've heard so much about you after- wait, nevermind that. The pokemon, i don't know what it is. Its big- and i mean BIG. it's easily taller than this house!"

Preyja and professor Quill both glanced back at the house. it was two stories tall, which would put the pokemon somewhere between 20 and thirty feet tall.

"Uh, seriously? That can't be right, that' be almost as tall as a legen-dary…" Preyja trailed off as realized what the pokemon probably was.

"I mean, its certainly unlike any pokemon i've ever seen! It's got these sick red eyes, and these golden rings going around its body-"

professor Quill glanced at Preyja. He tentatively asked, "Preyja, you said you _do_ know where Shiva is, right…?"

To which Preyja responded with a nervous cough. "Uh, no, actually, he wasn't in my room this morning when i woke up…"

professor Quill stared at her with a face that was a constantly shifting between shock and dumbfoundedness, before eventually putting his hands to his face with an expression that all but exclipctly said, ' _i can't believe you've done this._ He pulled her away from the man while giving him a quick "just a moment" hand motion.

"You're telling me you lost him." professor Quill asked incredulously.

"Well, _lost_ is a strong term..." Preyja said in a meek voice.

"The adult version of him can go into the reverse world at any given time, so i figured, when he was gone, that was probably where- he- was…" Preyja trailed off, and she felt tinier and tinier as professor Quill's face grew more and more distraught.

"I was never too involved with sinnoh's mythologies, but you said it was arceus's counterpart, right? and you mean to tell me that pokemon- that pokemon you yourself said may or may not be _actually satan-_ came up missing _,_ and your response was, effectively, "oh i guess he's in another dimension now _, oh well?"_ is that you're telling me, Preyja?"

"I mean, counterpart isn't exactly what i said, and when you put it like that it sounds a lot worse, but…"

"Oh my god, Preyja…"

"What, am i supposed to freak out every time it teleports to another dimension? It'll come back, eventually.."

"It'll probably take a while since its currently _terrorizing the town._ We need to get a move on before this can become an even bigger mess…"

"I mean, it can't be the same pokemon that's terrorizing the town. Shiva was like, what, three feet tall? There's no way they're the same, right...?"

Preyja turned her attention back to the man, who had been watching their whispered back and forth with a confused expression.

"How much damage has been done thus far?"

"Oh, well, none, yet. It's just sitting in the street."

"Eh." Preyja and professor Quill both responded with the same noise, and the same time.

"Wait, you mean to tell me it's not knocking over buildings or generally going on a rampage? It's just standing there?"

"Menacingly!" the man added, fully serious in his conviction.

It was Preyja's turn to put her hand in her head. "I thought you said it was terrorizing the city? Did you guys try interacting with it?"

"I mean, most people were to afraid to even go near it. A trainer did try to fight it, but his attacks wouldn't even hit it!"

 _...no._ Preyja couldn't even believe what she was hearing.

"...With what pokemon?"

"She threw everything she had at it! A delcatty, a bunnelby, she even had her lopunny take a crack at it! None of her attacks could hit it!"

"That just means its a ghost type, come on! You guys threw one thing at it then paniked when it didn't work!?"

"Well, yeah…after that trainer was rejected without landing a single effective hit, everyone else was too scared to even go close to it… we couldn't find korrina, and we didn't have anyone else who could put up a fight..."

 _Oh my…_

"Right. Zemys, let's move out." she said, walking over and hopping on his back. She took out a small black transceiver from her jacket pocket, tapping one of the four buttons to transmit to her other pokemon.

"Ok, ladies and gentlemen, listen up. Something's going down in the main town so i'm going to check it out. Zemys and i are going ahead- Triochi is going to go with us. professor Quill will be the point of contact. Everyone stay close to the house, and be ready to move out. We should be back soon. If not...you know what to do."

A small chorus of pokemon roars and grunts were heard from the transmitter as her pokemon all confirmed hearing her. Her transmitter was a combination walkie-talkie and bluetooth, connected to her Navi- the others were all simple two way receivers, connected to her transmitter. With a little bit of help from some of her tech friends, preya was able to have them design compact, two way communicators. They durable, holding up even through some of the toughest pokemon attacks, and could pick up each other's signals for miles. It took time, but she was able to train her pokemon to respond to her commands through them- a skill that proved invaluable during her attacks on pokemon gang bases and the like. Relaying her orders with such accuracy even at range allowed her to coordinate her pokemon in ways most people would never expect.

"We'll be back before long!"Preyja said. Zemys took off, and within seconds he and Preyja were both completely out of sight, flying west towards the coastline.


End file.
